A
term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of
terms an
officeholder may serve in a particular
elected office. When term limits are found in
presidential and
semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "
president for life". Sometimes, there is an absolute limit on the number of terms an officeholder can serve, while, in other cases, the restrictions are merely on the number of
consecutive terms.